The message for Christmas

Christmas also has a great fascination for those who are not Christian or believers. These people are touched by something that is hidden deep within them and that they long for: security, warmth, light, calm or peace. If you ask people why they celebrate Christmas, you will get a variety of answers. Even among Christians there are often different opinions about the meaning of this festival. For us Christians, this offers a valuable opportunity to bring the message of Jesus Christ closer to them. We find it difficult to find the right words to describe the meaning of this festival. It is a common statement that Jesus died for us, but we must not forget that his birth before his death also has essential meaning for us.

human history

Why do we humans need salvation? To answer this question we should turn to the origins: “And God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; and created them male and female" (1. Mose 1,27).

We humans were created not only in the image of God, but also to be in Jesus Christ: “For in him (Jesus) we live, move, and have our being; as some poets have said among you, We are of his offspring" (Acts 17,28).

We should also remember that God created us from the one seed of Adam, which means that we are all descended from him. When Adam sinned, we all sinned with him, since we are "in Adam." Paul makes this point very clear to the Romans: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death entered all men, because they all sinned" (Romans 5,12).

Through the disobedience of one man (Adam), we all became sinners: "Among them we also all once lived in the desires of our flesh, and did the will of the flesh and of reason, and were children of wrath by nature, like others » (Ephesians 2,3).

We see that the first man, Adam, made us all sinners and brought death to us all - to all of us because we were in him and he acted on our behalf when he sinned. Given this bad news, we might conclude that God is unjust. But let us now pay attention to the good news.

The good news

The good news is that human history does not begin with Adam, who brought sin and death into the world, but has its origins in God. He created us in his own image and we were created in Christ Jesus. Therefore, when Jesus was born, he came into the world for us as a second Adam, to accomplish what the first Adam was unable to do. Paul explains to the Romans that a second Adam (Jesus Christ) was to come: "Nevertheless, from Adam to Moses, death also reigned over those who had not sinned by the same transgression as Adam, who is a type of him who was to come." (Romans 5,14).

Adam is the representative head of all people who belong to the old creation. Christ is the head of all people who belong to the new creation. A head acts for all those under him: “Just as condemnation came to all men through the sin of one, so also through the righteousness of one came justification for all men, which leads to life. For as through the disobedience of one man (Adam) the many became sinners, so through the obedience of the one (Jesus) the many became righteous" (Romans 5,18-19).

It is important to understand that it was not a sinful act that came into the world through Adam, but sin as an essence (Romans 5,12). Before conversion, we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners. We are addicted to sin and its result, death! Therefore all people have become sinners and must die because they have sinned. In Jesus Christ we take on a new nature so that we now share in the divine nature: "Everything that serves life and godliness has given us divine power through the knowledge of him who called us by his glory and Power. Through them the most precious and greatest promises have been given to us, so that through them you may share in the divine nature when you escape the transience that is in the world through desire" (2. Petrus 1,3-4).

Therefore we are all justified in Christ Jesus; We are so, not because of our own doing, but because of what Jesus accomplished for us in our place: "For he made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become righteousness before God" (2. Corinthians 5,21).

The birth of Jesus Christ, whose memory we honor every Christmas, is considered the most significant event in human history. With his birth on earth in human form, Jesus took on human existence - similar to Adam in his role as our representative. Every action he took, he did for our good and in the name of all of us. This means that when Jesus resisted the devil's temptations, we are credited with resisting that temptation ourselves. Likewise, the righteous life that Jesus led before God is credited to us, as if we ourselves had lived in such righteousness. When Jesus was crucified, we were also crucified with him and in his resurrection we were, as it were, risen with him. When he ascended into heaven to take his place at the right hand of the Father, we were, as it were, exalted with him. If he had not entered our world in human form, he would not have been able to die for us.

This is the good news for Christmas. He came into the world for us, lived for us, died for us and for our sakes rose again to live for us. This is why Paul was able to proclaim to the Galatians: “For I died to the law through the law, that I might live to God. I am crucified with Christ. I live, but now not I, but Christ lives in me. For what I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2,19-20).

Already a reality!

You are faced with an important choice: either you choose the “do-it-yourself faith” by believing in yourself, or you choose the path of Jesus Christ, who stood on your behalf and gives you life he has ready for you. This truth is already present reality. Jesus himself told his disciples that a day would come when they would know that they are in him and he is in them: "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14,20). This deep connection is not a distant vision of the future, but can already be experienced today. Each person is separated from God only by his own decision. In Jesus we are united with the Father, for he is in us and we in him. I therefore encourage you to allow yourself to be reconciled with God: «So we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ, because God exhorts through us; So we now ask on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God!” (2. Corinthians 5,20). This is a heartfelt appeal to you to seek reconciliation with God.

I wish you a merry christmas! May this time inspire you to thank God for the birth of Jesus, just as the shepherds and wise men from the East once did. Thank God with all your heart for his precious gift!

by Takalani Musekwa

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